Yusuf (Cat Stevens) announces a new Brisbane show

Responding to overwhelming demand, the legendary Yusuf Islam — aka Cat Stevens — has announced a second show at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

Yusuf’s Peace Train tour will commemorate the 50th anniversary of his first major hit single and debut album, Matthew & Son, released way back in 1967.

One of the most influential singer-songwriters of all time, Cat Stevens first attracted attention with singles like Matthew & Son, Here Comes My Baby and The First Cut Is The Deepest in the late ’60s, before a heavy workload of non-stop touring led him to be hospitalised for several months with TB.

That’s when he began to question his life and spirituality, and underwent a personal transformation that can be heard in the tracks that made him a household name in the ’70s, like Wild World, Father & Son, Morning Has Broken, Peace Train and Moonshadow.

In 1975, Cat experienced another brush with death when he nearly drowned in the Pacific Ocean, after which he dedicated himself fully to the ‘Divine path’, leaving music behind to concentrate on education and humanitarian relief, and eventually fading from public view altogether.

It wasn’t until 9/11 that Yusuf, as he now prefers to be known, felt motivated to make his presence felt again, speaking out in the media against fanaticism and war and calling for peace and unity.

That obviously stirred something, because in 2006, he returned to mainstream music with the album An Other Cup, followed by Roadsinger in 2009 and Tell ‘Em I’m Gone in 2014, the same year he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Yusuf hasn’t toured Australia since 2010, when he sold out arenas around the country, so it’s fair to say this concert has been heavily anticipated.

With tickets selling fast to his show at Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Saturday 9 December, Yusuf has announced a second date at the venue.

Yusuf will play the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Sunday 10 December. Tickets to this new show go on sale at 10am on Tuesday 16 May at ticketek.com.au.